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CE artist Andrew Li stands in front of his complete mural at Salesforce

ArtSpan mural project features Andrew Li at Salesforce Transit Center

Posted on August 13, 2018

The long-awaited Salesforce Transit Center celebrated its grand opening on August 11, 2018, with a massive block party. Spectators from across the Bay Area came out in full force to see the newly opened center and its 5.4-acre rooftop park.

As part of the grand opening celebrations, ArtSpan organized an epic mural project featuring artwork by 38 Bay Area artists, covering 10,000 square feet of forthcoming retail space on Natoma between First and Second streets. The project centered around the theme of “Dynamism,” representing the transit center with bustling urban scenes featuring transportation and downtown architecture.

Andrew Li (b. 1962), CE artist since 1990, was one of the 38 artists selected to participate in the mural project. Over the course of three days, Li completed his 19-foot long mural featuring iconic San Francisco locations, including the Golden Gate Bridge. The mural includes a population of residents boarding Muni buses, BART and Caltrain, and a crowd of cyclists traversing the city. The Creativity Explored studio even made an appearance in his city scene!

Studio Director Paul Moshammer accompanied Li when working on the mural, acting as an assistant to the artist. After watching Andrew complete his work, Paul stated, “One of the amazing things about Andrew is that he didn’t bring a sketch or anything, but fearlessly began painting. He had no hesitation and absolute confidence. He filled the 19 feet of mural space with black outlines in an hour and a half! The speed at which he worked was like watching a time-lapse video—incredible!”

Andrew spent some time preparing for the mural by creating a giant painting on a wall in the CE studio featuring some of the figures, vehicles, and architecture, getting a sense of the larger scale of work that would be required in the mural.

Li’s affection for transportation can be seen in much of his artwork. He often depicts crowds of cyclists and traffic jams of automobiles and city buses. Much of his work contains series of figures or animals in repetition with similar features and expressions. This cascade of figures in motion creates energetic scenes that capture the movement and visual sensations of busy city streets and crowded corridors.

Li’s mural is located on the Natoma Pedestrian Way near the corner of Natoma and First streets. The murals will be on display until retail tenants begin occupying storefronts, likely in early 2019. Be sure not to miss out on experiencing all of the murals before they’re gone!